The First Battle of Hogwarts
by Sophprosyne
Summary: When Hogwarts is taken over by Death Eaters, James Potter and Lily Evans are forced to defy Voldemort for the first time and set events into motion that will shake the wizarding world to its foundations for decades to come. One-shot.


Hogwarts' Great Hall was an impressive place even on the most mundane day, with its high stone walls, ancient tapestries and a ceiling that revealed the sky above. But on holidays the Great Hall would often reach heights of grandeur that boggled the minds of all but the most privileged students. On Halloween night the hall was filled with festive students enjoying the feast and marveling at the decorations around them.

Pumpkins the size of Hagrid's head floated in the air above them with twinkling blue, yellow, green and red lights inside them. The long wooden tables were filled with festive foods from the commonplace pumpkin pie to the more adventurous caramelized bat wings. The Hogwarts house elves prided themselves on their work and they worked especially hard to make every holiday unforgettable.

October 31, 1976 had all of the makings of just another Halloween. The professors were talking evenly with each other. The student body was buzzing. The Marauders were seated at the Gryffindor table, plotting.

There were a few differences though, differences that most never noticed. Professor Sinkgraff, the divination professor, hardly touched his food and only responded tersely to his peers. There was an element of anticipation from the older Slytherins. And Albus Dumbledore was absent from the feast.

It was that last detail that had attracted the interest of Remus Lupin.

"But why do you think he isn't here? Dumbledore's always at the holiday feasts." Remus looked bothered. The other Marauders didn't share his curiosity.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Moony," James said. "Dumbledore has a hundred different titles and obligations. Something probably came up that he had to deal with. No big deal."

"Yeah, I heard that Dumbledore barely spends any time in the castle anyway," Sirius said. "He's always off doing something. Everyone knows that McGonagall does all the heavy lifting anyway. Hogwarts practically runs itself." He emphasized his point by taking a particularly large bite from a pair of bat wings. Peter grimaced and went back to poking at his dinner.

"I guess," Remus said. He didn't look convinced but he let the subject drop.

"Anyway, we have more important things to worry about. Like the explosives Peter and I put in all of the pumpkins in the Great Hall," James said, smirking.

"You didn't!" Sirius said delightedly.

"It wasn't even that hard," James said. "We just used the cloak an hour or two before the feast. There wasn't even anybody in here."

Remus snorted. "Everyone will assume that we did it," he said. "Anytime anything even remotely bad happens everyone automatically assumes that we're responsible."

"To be fair, Moony, we are always responsible," James said.

Sirius snickered at that. "Only because nobody else does anything interesting here. Face it, we're the only thing keeping this place lively. Without us it would just be homework and gossip. Can you imagine how boring that would be?"

Remus let out a sigh but couldn't hide the smile on his face.

"I wish Dumbledore were here though," Peter said. "Without him we'll have to deal with McGonagall straight away." The other boys blanched at the thought of McGonagall's wrath.

"Good point, Peter." Sirius looked around speculatively. "Oi, McKinnon," he shouted. "When's Dumbledore getting back?"

The Head Boy turned from his girlfriend, annoyed at Sirius' interruption. "The Headmaster is at an emergency gathering of the Wizengamot. Rosier wanted to discuss the strategy for dealing with dragon hide inflation or something of that nature." McKinnon turned back to his girlfriend and eagerly resumed his conversation with her.

"Doesn't sound like a bloody emergency to me," Sirius muttered.

"I guess this means we get to deal with McGonagall," Peter said.

"It doesn't matter. I brought the cloak down with me. Once the explosives go off Peter and I will just hide under it and make our escape." James' smug smile just grew.

"If only James were lucky enough for Evans to be here. Then he could get 'caught' by her." Sirius waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"She's not here?" James raised himself up and looked around the Gryffindor table. Unable to find Lily he sat back down, looking confused.

"Where could she be? She never misses school events. She's a prefect. And a model student. Maybe she's sick. Do you guys think I should check the infirmary?"

Peter and Sirius looked at James as if he had lost his mind. "I think you're the sick one here, mate," Sirius said.

Remus was laughing. "Relax, James," he said. "She told me that she was behind on her transfiguration essay because she had been tutoring a third year in charms and she wanted to catch up. Lily's fine."

James' panic abated. "It's still not good for her to be skiving off on meals," he said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Your infatuation with her is creepy, mate."

"Infatuation is a pretty big word for you, Padfoot," James retorted. "I'm going to go bring Evans some food."

"If you say so." Sirius went back to digging into his meal with gusto. The other Marauders followed his lead.

James got up and started gathering food, stealing the last slice of pumpkin pie from an unfortunate first year. When he had gathered a bundle of food large enough to feed Remus on a full moon he started making his way to the staircase, ignoring the indignant shouts of other students as he dropped bits of food on them.

It was when he made it to the main staircase that James felt it. The sudden collapse of a presence that was both unyieldingly powerful and subtle. A subtle power that had pervaded Hogwarts since his first year and for the centuries since its founding.

Hogwarts' wards fell.

Even on the main staircase James could hear the panic that erupted in the Great Hall. He heard McGonagall trying to restore order. The food that he had been planning on bringing to Lily lay forgotten on the ground.

James considered going back to the Great Hall. Then he saw them.

Hooded, masked figures, dressed in all-black marching into the Entrance Hall, less than a hundred yards from where James was standing.

Anger and fear rolled through him in equal measure. He knew who these people were. His father had warned him about them. Death Eaters.

It was sheer luck that he hadn't been spotted yet. They were keeping their eyes on the Great Hall. James hurriedly pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it over himself.

He followed the Death Eaters into the Great Hall at a safe distance. The screams of the other students told him that the Death Eaters had been noticed. James could only hope that none of his friends did anything stupid.

When the last of the Death Eaters made it into the Great Hall James decided it was safe to go in without anyone knocking into him.

The hall was being torn apart by the Death Eaters who were steadily pushing back the professors and any of the older students who had chosen to stand against them. There weren't any killing curses yet but James knew that only meant the Death Eaters had plans for Hogwarts.

James looked around helplessly, trying to figure out what he could do to swing the battle in the favor of the Hogwarts defenders but he couldn't see any way of doing that without blowing his cover.

As much as he loathed to admit it, James knew that he would be of more help to the other students if he stayed free and hidden than if he rashly joined the battle. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to go help but he resisted.

The professors were losing the battle. They had been caught by surprise and they were outnumbered 5 to 1. McGonagall, Flitwick and Whitefield, the new DADA teacher, were holding their own. McGonagall was turning every piece of the environment into a weapon that could be used against the Death Eaters. Flitwick and Whitefield were sending out spells faster than James' eye could follow.

But they were only three people. Other professors, like Kettleburn and Slughorn, weren't trained for a situation like this. And the teachers were hampered by the need to protect their students. The Death Eaters had no such qualms.

Then James saw Professor Sinkgraff move behind Flitwick and stun him with a flick of his wand. He had a look of resignation on his face while he did it. McGonagall quickly realized his treachery but she was bound by the Death Eaters before she could retaliate.

With their two most competent duelists defeated the rest of the Hogwarts professors were soon subdued. James could only watch in horror as they were none too gently rounded up and taken into the antechamber behind the Headmaster's podium.

A Death Eater walked up to the podium and put his wand to his throat. His voice boomed out, echoing menacingly through the Great Hall.

"Students, Hogwarts has been claimed by the Dark Lord. Do not struggle and you will not be harmed. You will be separated into three groups. Purebloods, Half-bloods and Mudbloods. Do not resist or you will be put down. Do not lie or you will be put down. Do not run or you will be put down."

Most of the Death Eaters started going up and down every table, trying to separate students by their blood purity. A small group, ten or so, left the Great Hall. That shook James out of his momentary shock.

 _Lily_ , he thought. He started moving out of the Great Hall as quickly as he could without his cloak shifting and revealing him. He pulled the Marauder's Map out of his back pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Ink spread across the map, almost all of the names concentrated in the Great Hall with a few stragglers in each of the dormitories. James saw Lily's name in Gryffindor tower along with a few younger students.

A group of Death Eaters were closer to the tower than he was and they were moving swiftly. James cursed and sped up, not caring if his cloak revealed him. He took every short cut he knew of in Hogwarts and sprinted the entire way.

He didn't make it there before the Death Eaters.

Four of them had broken into the tower, blasting the Fat Lady in half and leaving a smoking hole where she had stood guard. James could hear shouts and spells being cast in the common room. He sprinted through the hole, wand gripped tightly in his hand.

Lily was pinned against the wall, along with two fourth years and a second year, trying to fend off the attacking Death Eaters. They were toying with her, James realized immediately. It was amusing to them to pin children against the wall and curse them.

James lifted his wand to the back of one of the Death Eaters.

" _Confringo_." The curse spiraled, almost lazily, into the back of one of the Death Eaters and exploded, launching him against the wall and knocking the other Death Eaters next to him to the ground.

Lily didn't pause to question her good fortune.

" _Incarcerous_!" she shouted, binding another Death Eater tightly with thick ropes.

By then the other two Death Eaters had raised themselves off the ground. Luckily for James they couldn't see him because he still had the sense to cover himself with his invisibility cloak again.

Unfortunately for Lily and the other Gryffindors, they were the only ones the Death Eaters could see.

One raised his wand and a scintillating silver curse sped out of it, narrowly missing the second year who had the good sense to get out of its way. The other kept his focus on Lily, beginning a chain of curses that bled from his wand faster than Lily could keep up. In the confined space it would be easy for a curse to move too quickly for Lily and the others to dodge, James knew.

He jabbed his wand forward and sent a nonverbal stunner at the Death Eater's back. The man dropped, his spell chain broken mid-incantation.

In order to get the spell off James had been forced to raise his cloak for a moment. The other Death Eater saw a flash of him and slashed his wand diagonally, a curling whip of purple flame veering dangerously toward James, who dropped to the ground.

The whip flew harmlessly over his head, setting fire to a corner of the Gryffindor Common Room.

James heard a shouted, " _Petrificus_ _Totalus_ ," and the last Death Eater fell to the floor, unnaturally stiff. An incredulous Lily was staring at the second year girl who had hexed the Death Eater.

James laughed. "At least one of you had the balls to do something." Lily glared at him but the fourth year boys had the decency to look abashed.

"Potter," Lily began dangerously. "Do you mind telling me exactly what the bloody hell is going on here?"

Lily looked angry. James didn't take the hint. "Nothing much, just, you know, me saving your life."

"I meant, why are there Death Eaters in the Gryffindor Common Room?" Lily shouted at him. James raised his hands, as if to protect himself from her fury.

"I don't know how the Death Eaters got in but there are a whole lot more than these. Probably thirty or so," James said, foreseeing Lily's question. "How did you know that they were Death Eaters?"

"Because, unlike you, I read the news, Potter. What about the Dumbledore and the professors? Couldn't they stop this?"

"The Death Eaters took everyone by surprise. Dumbledore isn't here and the professors are captured. All of the students are being put into groups based on blood purity. I can fill you in on everything but not here. We need to go somewhere safe."

"Where?" Lily asked. "It sounds like the Death Eaters have control over the castle."

"Only the parts of the castle they know about," James retorted. "Follow me."

* * *

"Well, this sucks."

Remus turned to stare at Peter incredulously. "This… sucks? Hogwarts is swarming with Death Eaters, we've been split up from Padfoot and Prongs, the entire future of wizarding Britain is under the control of the most amoral group of wizards in the last hundred years and the professors are being held hostage and all you have to say is 'this sucks?'"

Peter shrugged. "James hasn't been captured. I'm sure he found Lily and they're plotting to get us all out of this right now. And Padfoot will be fine. He's over there with the rest of the purebloods. The Death Eaters won't do anything to him."

Remus shook his head at Peter's optimism. "Even if that's true it still means Lily and James would have to trick or outfight dozens of Death Eaters. Prongs is good but that would be difficult even for Dumbledore."

"No need to turn into a bloody pessimist," Peter said. "It's not like we can help."

"Can't we?" Remus said. He started stroking his admittedly weak chin hair. Peter squinted at him.

"What're you plotting?"

"Well, your animagus form is pretty unnoticeable. I'm sure that with the proper distraction you could get out of here unnoticed."

"Remus, no," Peter hissed. "This isn't like distracting the faculty. These are _Death Eaters_. If we do anything they'll kill us."

"You're right," Remus said. "But they won't do anything to a pureblood."

He looked over to the Slytherin table where all of the purebloods had been taken. There were relatively few Death Eaters watching over them because almost half were Slytherins. Remus wondered how many people sitting at that table had known this was going to happen.

It didn't take him long to find Sirius. He was sitting with a group of Gryffindors who were muttering darkly to one another and occasionally glancing at the Death Eater standing nearby. He saw Remus looking at him and raised an eyebrow.

Remus mouthed, 'Maneuver three,' to him. Sirius looked confused for a moment before Remus gestured at Peter. Then his eyes widened with glee.

"Get ready," Remus muttered to Peter, who let out a small whimper.

Sirius whispered something to the Gryffindors sitting next to him then stood up on the bench he was sitting on. The hall quieted.

"On behalf of the Marauders, I would just like to personally welcome the cowards who hide their faces behind masks and intimidate children to Hogwarts. I hope they enjoy their short stay as much as possible, because when Dumbledore hears about this there won't be anywhere for them to hide ever again."

Peter was under the table transforming and the hall was silent, all eyes on Sirius. Nobody noticed a rat puttering its way to the Great Hall's robust wooden doors underneath the Gryffindor table.

The Death Eater who was in charge of the operation made his way over to the Slytherin table with slow, deliberate steps. The hall was more silent than Remus had ever heard it before and the sound of the Death Eater's boots echoed off the old stone walls.

Remus hoped that they wouldn't kill Sirius. Peter passed by the two guards at the door who were focusing intently on Sirius.

"The eldest Black," the Death Eater said, standing before Sirius who was still standing on the bench. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Probably straight from my parents," Sirius said.

The Death Eater made a slight noise, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Remus was shocked when his wand seemed to just appear in his hand. He casually flicked his wand at Sirius who fell to the ground, rolling around and screaming.

No light had come out of his wand and there wasn't a mark on Sirius but his screams were piercing. Remus recoiled from the torture, horrified.

With another flick of the Death Eater's wand Sirius stopped screaming. He lay on the floor, eyes wide but unseeing. The leader gestured to another Death Eater who levitated Sirius back into his seat. He sat there, unresponsive, shuddering almost imperceptibly every few seconds.

"You have been sheltered behind Hogwarts' stalwart walls," the leader said loudly, for the benefit of the entire hall. "We do not fear reprisal, we do not fear the ministry, and we do not fear Dumbledore. The Dark Lord will bring about a new golden era in our history."

He took off his mask and lowered his hood. "I am Antonin Dolohov and you have had the briefest glimpse at what happens to those who defy the Dark Lord. Do not make Sirius Black's mistake."

Dolohov strode off into the antechamber where the teachers were being held and Sirius Black stared expressionlessly at the now stormy sky of the Great Hall.

Remus began to feel something that he hadn't felt since he was a small child, transforming for the first time. Pure fear.

"What is this place?" Lily asked, marveling at her surroundings. The younger Gryffindors seemed to be in as awe inspired as she was.

"This," James said, "is the Come and Go Room."

James had asked the room to provide them with a safe place to hide from the Death Eaters and it had obliged. There was a pair of couches in front of a crackling fire, a pair of long wooden tables in the center of the room and Gryffindor tapestries and rugs hanging on the walls and covering the floor. It was vaguely reminiscent of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"How did you find this place?" the second year asked.

"I'm a Marauder," James said, grinning.

The younger Gryffindors went over to the fireplace where they discovered a wizarding chessboard. Lily stayed by James' side.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked. "What can we possibly do?" She was nearly whispering.

James looked at her. She was hunched over, eyes downcast. "Hey," he said. "It'll be fine. They won't risk the bad press they'd get if they actually hurt any students. This is just a power play. All we have to do is let Dumbledore know what's going on and he'll sort it out. Alright?"

Lily nodded, meeting James' eyes. He reflected on the fact that this was probably the closest he had been to Lily Evans in the last four years without her trying to curse him.

His words seemed to have the desired effect. She straightened up and pulled out her wand. "So all we need to do is write Dumbledore a note explaining what's going on and send it from the Owlry. Then he shows up and the Death Eaters are screwed."

James nodded. "I'll write the note if you tell them that we're going to leave," he said, gesturing to the three younger students.

"That's fine," Lily said. James turned to go write the note but Lily grabbed his hand.

"Thank you for coming to help me," she said. James' mouth was suddenly very dry. "They would have gotten us if you hadn't showed up. It was, well, it was pretty brave."

James couldn't help but look into her eyes. Lily Evans' green eyes were ineffably beautiful, James decided. He realized that he hadn't said anything and that her hand was still in his.

"Yeah, it's… I mean, no problem, my pleasure."

He continued holding on to her until she looked down at their conjoined hands pointedly, the closest thing James had seen to a smile all day on her face. He blushed and hurriedly retracted his hand, muttering something about letters and powerful wizards and enchantments.

Lily watched him walk over to the table, unsure of how she felt about a blushing James Potter. She pushed such thoughts to the back of her mind and went over to the younger students to explain where she and James were going.

Predictably, the younger Gryffindors wanted to come along and help them. It took Lily nearly ten minutes to convince them that they would be more of a detriment than a help and that them staying safe in the Come and Go Room just meant that she and James would be able to focus on getting the note to Dumbledore.

They acquiesced to her demands, albeit a touch disappointedly. Lily was relieved. They were too young to actually be any help to her and James. She would just end up looking out for them the entire time. James was standing patiently over by the tables waiting for Lily.

"Ready?" he asked when she approached him.

"Yes," she said, trying to sound more confident than she actually was.

"Excellent. It'll probably be a good idea for us to use my cloak to get to the Owlry. That way no patrolling Death Eater spots us."

"Cloak?" Lily asked.

James pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it over his head. Lily gasped. James thought she was impressed until he saw the expression on her face. Displeased would be a vast understatement.

"No wonder you've been getting away with all of those horrible pranks for years. You've been invisible. That's why nobody could ever pin those things on you. The exploding cauldrons in our third year, the see-thru shirts last year, everything was just you, invisible."

"Maybe now isn't the best time to be discussing this," James said, a bit frightened by Lily's anger. "And imagine if I didn't have the cloak. We'd be lucky to get anywhere near the Owlry."

Lily seemed only slightly placated by his words but she didn't press him any further. He threw the cloak over them and tried to ignore how close they had to be to fit underneath it without their feet showing.

They made their way carefully to the Owlry, silencing their shoes so they didn't make any noise. They didn't encounter any Death Eaters on their way there. James resisted checking the Marauder's Map. Lily didn't need to know all of his secrets and they were plenty safe under the cloak.

"I don't like this," Lily said. "Where are they?"

James was just as uncomfortable with the lack of Death Eaters as Lily but he held his tongue. The worst thing he could do was panic, he knew. There were a hundred reasons why the Death Eaters wouldn't be patrolling the school. They probably just didn't have the numbers to waste on keeping an eye out for students wandering the school. He said as much to Lily.

After all, he thought, what did Death Eaters think a couple of Hogwarts students would be able to do to them? A vengeful smile crossed his face. Lily didn't notice, too focused on keeping her footing and not reacting as she and James continued to bump into each other underneath the confines of the cloak.

Their luck ended when they reached the stairwell to the Owlry. Two Death Eaters stood next to the stairwell, talking softly to one another, their voices distorted by the masks they wore.

James pulled Lily back by her shoulder and they rounded the corner they had just walked past.

"We'll have to be quick and quiet. I'll stun the one on the left if you take the one on the right. Can you cast the spell nonverbally?" James asked.

"I think so."

"You think so?"

"Well excuse me for never practicing nonverbal casting with the stunning spell."

"But you cast everything nonverbally in charms."

"This isn't anything like a charm."

"Lily, we need to do this. If you can't cast this properly we could get killed. Can you do it?"

This time she just nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"You've got this. You're the top of our year for a reason," James said. He smiled at her. Lily smiled back weakly.

They walked back to their previous position. There were only three feet separating them from the Death Eaters. They raised their wands in unison. Two stunning spells flashed out.

One Death Eater fell to the ground. The other seemed dazed but was able to shrug off the effects of the weak stunning spell. James cursed.

" _Homenum revelio_ ," the Death Eater shouted.

James could see that he and Lily were lighting up, lined in bright orange. He threw the cloak off, unwilling to let it get damaged.

" _Stupefy_ ," James shouted. The Death Eater parried the spell easily. Lily sent a stunning spell of her own but the Death Eater had even less trouble with it than he had with James'.

James and Lily leveled their wands at the Death Eater who didn't even bother to do the same. "Bold," the Death Eater said. "But ultimately ineffective. _Rennervate_ ," he said, pointing his wand at his fallen partner.

James cursed again as the other Death Eater rose to his feet unsteadily.

" _Scindo_." James sent a severing curse at the rising Death Eater. His partner erected a shimmering shield just in time to prevent the spell from taking off his head.

"Dabbling in dangerous magic are we," the Death Eater said. He flicked his wand and a burst of crackling green tendrils flowed out of his wand. The temperature in the hall dropped and the tendrils shot toward James and Lily.

" _Protego_ ," Lily said. A silver barrier appeared before the two of them that the tendrils smashed into, unable to find a way past. James was impressed. The shield was nearly perfect, far better than his own and almost as good as his father's.

The tendrils disappeared and the Death Eaters attacked. James couldn't identify half of the spells that were being sent their way but he knew that he had to avoid them. He and Lily ducked and weaved, knowing that a single spell would likely spell an end to their fight.

The spells that they couldn't dodge Lily would shield them from while James fired off the occasional curse of his own.

" _Aduro_ ," he shouted, as Lily blocked a pair of piercing curses. A long jet of fire erupted from his wand at the two Death Eaters. They brought up a pair of overlapping shields. Sweat rolled down James' face. "Lily, run," he said.

" _Detorqueo_ ," she muttered in response. Her wand didn't emit a spell but James could see that past his flamethrower the shields the Death Eaters were using started to curve oddly with tiny holes appearing and starting to expand.

Flames started to poke through their shields or find their way around. James could hear cries of pain from the two Death Eaters. He didn't let up on his spell and he could tell from Lily's look of concentration that she wasn't either.

The holes continued to get larger and the shrieks of pain grew louder but James didn't let up on his spell.

"Potter, stop!" Lily shouted.

The flames ended as suddenly as they started. The shields the Death Eaters had been using had fallen as well.

One of the Death Eaters was rolling around on the floor, his wand a smoking ruin next to him, trying to put out the flames that had caught on his robes. The other was lying still on the ground, fire languidly rolling on his chest.

" _Aguamenti_." Water from Lily's wand doused the flames on the two Death Eaters with enough force to propel them against the wall. Another pair of spells from the witch had them bound, silenced and covered with a Notice-Me-Not charm against the wall.

The smell of charred flesh and ash hung in the air. James vomited.

"Are they alive?" James asked Lily after he had emptied the contents of his stomach.

"Yes," she said shortly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," James said.

"That was horrible. I didn't just watch that happen, I helped you do that. I don't want to ever see something like that again." She shuddered. "They were screaming, James. And you didn't stop."

"I didn't want them to hurt us," he said. "I was… I was scared." James realized he was bending the truth as he said that. He wasn't worried about himself. It was Lily he had been worried about.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I'm scared too."

They stood like that for a moment before James' common sense reasserted itself. "We have to get this note to Dumbledore," he said.

"Right," Lily said. They ascended the staircase with their wands drawn, not bothering with the invisibility cloak.

Their caution was unwarranted. The Owlry was empty except for the dozens of owls that called it their home. An enormous tawny owl swooped down from the highest beams of the Owlry and landed on James' shoulder, nearly sending him toppling to the ground.

Lily almost laughed at the ridiculous sight of the lean James Potter supporting an owl that was larger than his head.

"I need you to take this note directly to Dumbledore," James said. "Nobody but him. This is an emergency." The owl straightened proudly at James' words and extended a long leg. James tied the note.

With one long flap of his wings the Owl took off out the open window of the Owlry. James watched him until he was just a speck in the distance.

"He's fast," Lily said.

James nodded. "He's a Great Grey Owl. They're the largest owls in the world. He's stronger, faster and smarter than any other owl I've met. My dad got him for me when I turned ten."

His thoughts turned to his father and what he would do if he were in James' situation. He had died at the end of the summer but even at the end when he was too weak to leave his bed, Charlus Potter was still one of the strongest wizards James had ever known.

"James, where did you learn those spells?" Lily sounded hesitant. "I've never heard of _Aduro_ or _Scindo_."

"You wouldn't have," he said. "They're dangerous spells. Hogwarts doesn't teach them."

"Then where did you learn them?"

James paused. "My dad taught them to me." It was true in a sense. Charlus had given his journals to James and bid him to learn all that he could from them. Those spells, along with a few others, were listed as being some of the dueling spells that Charlus was most proficient with. James took it upon himself to learn them all over the summer.

"They looked like Dark Magic," Lily said.

"They saved our lives."

"You nearly killed them."

"They tried to kill us!"

"That doesn't make it right, James!" Lily shouted. "I never would have broken their shields down if I thought you were going to keep the spell up for so long."

"But you did," James said. "I did what I had to do to keep us safe."

"But-"Lily started.

"What do you think we should do now?" James asked.

Lily sighed at his evasion. "I guess we should just go back to the room and wait for Dumbledore," she said.

James was already shaking his head before she finished talking. "I need to make sure that the Death Eaters aren't hurting anyone. I'll take you back to the Come and Go Room then quickly scout out the Great Hall. I should be fine with the cloak."

Lily didn't argue with him. James could tell that she was upset and probably less comfortable with him than she had been before he had used those spells. They walked back to the Come and Go Room in complete silence.

"I'll be back in 15 minutes or so," James said. He turned to leave.

"I'm sorry," Lily said. James looked back at her, surprised. "It was my fault that the Death Eaters even knew we were there. If it weren't for you I'd have died twice tonight. I'm frightened and I'm taking it out on you and you're just doing your best." She paused. "You're doing better than me, or anyone else could."

They were closer now. James didn't know when they had closed the distance between them, her face just a few inches away from his own, eyes slightly lidded as she looked into his. His mouth was dry and he didn't do anything as Lily leaned in closer.

"They're back," he heard the second year yell. The moment broke. The distance between the two of them was suddenly great again and Lily walked into the Come and Go Room.

"Stay safe," she said. James gave a small smile and Lily shut the door. Then there was nothing but an expanse of blank wall in front of him and James felt loneliness and frustration bubble up.

"Dammit, Potter, get a grip," he said, pulling his cloak on.

James began the walk to the Great Hall, checking the Marauder's Map every minute to ensure he wasn't going to walk into a batch of Death Eaters. The path was clear every time. The Death Eaters that he and Lily had tied up and silenced remained in the Owlry and Gryffindor Tower while the main contingent of Death Eaters was standing guard over the students and teachers in the Great Hall. James didn't think that they had the manpower to do much policing of the castle.

He was on edge as he walked down the main staircase to the Great Hall. It was silent. There was none of the usual chattering and gossiping, no footsteps pounding on the ancient stones. He couldn't even hear any hushed whispering. It was unnatural.

James decided to get as close to the Great Hall as possible without risking detection. There was a pair of Death Eaters in the entrance hall but James was confident they wouldn't be able to detect him. You wouldn't find someone under an invisibility cloak unless they wanted to be found.

The Great Hall was subdued. The wooden doors that led into the hall were wide open and James could see all the students sitting in three groups. He quickly made the connection. Purebloods at the Slytherin table, half-bloods at the Ravenclaw table and the muggleborn students at the Gryffindor table.

The teachers weren't in sight. James saw their names in the antechamber on the Marauder's map. He scanned the room more incisively, looking for his friends. He saw Remus with the rest of the half-bloods and Sirius slumped over at the pureblood table but no Peter. James was momentarily concerned until he decided that Peter had probably just turned into Wormtail and escaped the Great Hall when nobody was looking. James had just missed him on the map.

There didn't seem to be any activity in the Great Hall so James was about to head back to the Come and Go Room when Dolohov walked up to the podium. The silent student body looked up at him expectantly and James felt himself doing the same.

Dolohov seemed pleased at their rapt attention. "It has come to my attention that there are students missing from our little assembly here in the Great Hall. A few Gryffindors have decided that they have better things to do than grace us with their presence. I, for one, am insulted. They must be coaxed from their nest to come and join us."

He took a deep breath and directed his gaze at the Gryffindor table. "For every hour that the six Gryffindors who are not present do not surrender themselves to us we will kill six mudbloods."

The hall broke out then, from some purebloods who were unable to contain their looks of smugness and glee to the outraged reactions of the other students. Even the Death Eaters at their tables weren't able to silence them completely.

"SILENCE." Dolohov had his want pointed at his throat and his words had an almost physical quality to them. James could feel the pressure his words had pushing him to the ground, forcing him to submit to an unseen force.

"This is not a choice that has been made lightly," Dolohov continued. "It has been forced upon me by the reckless and unconscionable actions of your peers. This blood will be on their hands." He left the podium. The students sat in stunned silence.

James could feel his stomach churning. This wasn't a plot to flush out the Gryffindor students. It didn't make any sense. Killing muggleborn students wouldn't make the Gryffindors in the Come and Go Room come down. The other students had no way of contacting them. This nothing more than a weak justification to murder muggleborns, James realized.

The Death Eaters didn't care about getting the Gryffindors to give themselves up. They weren't a threat. The Death Eaters were just fulfilling their own twisted fantasies.

James started to run back to the Come and Go Room, his cloak fluttering around him as he ran. He didn't care about being spotted at this point. He just had to get back to Lily and the others and tell them what was going on. Then they'd be able to come up with a plan to stop the Death Eaters before anyone got hurt.

Relying on Dumbledore to show up would be foolish, James knew. There was no telling how long it would take for the owl to reach him. Dozens of muggleborn students could be murdered by the time he showed up.

James was gasping for breath with a painful stitch in his side by the time he got to the Come and Go Room. Lily and the others looked shocked at his abrupt entrance. She got up and walked over to him.

"What's going on?" Lily asked.

"The Death Eater in charge said that every hour that we don't turn ourselves in they'll kill six muggleborns," James said. The Gryffindors sitting on the couch listening in looked horrified. One of the older students started consoling the younger girl who had burst into tears.

"Oh God," Lily said. She looked sickened. "We have to do something!"

"I know. I'm thinking. We need to think of something quickly though. We don't have a lot of time left."

They stood there, lost in thought. James spoke up after a minute. "I think I might have an idea," he said.

"What?" Lily asked.

James told her.

"Idiocy," she said. "Absolute lunacy. There's no chance of pulling that off. You'll get us killed. We should wait for Dumbledore. There's nothing we can do against dozens of Death Eaters by ourselves."

"What other choice do we have?" James said. He spoke to her softly. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did nothing, if I allowed friends to be murdered because I was afraid of what would happen to me. Could you?"

Lily was speechless.

"I know that we might not be able to pull this off but a failed attempt is worth more any day than cowering in fear," James said.

Lily nodded once, slowly. "We have to try something. And your plan could work. If we're smart. And lucky."

"Excellent," James said. He smiled at her. "I'll go get Peter and tell him what his role is going to be."

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled," Lily said as James left the room. He laughed.

* * *

"I don't think this is a good idea," Peter said. James gave him an encouraging pat on the back. He knew that Peter would need motivation before trying something this dangerous.

"We've got to do this, Peter," he said. "Those students are counting on us. You're the only one who can make this plan work. Without you we're screwed."

Peter seemed more confident after that. James knew that his friend didn't have the best self-esteem and he played to that, though he felt guilty as he did it.

"And think about what everyone's going to say when we pull this off," James said. "We'll have saved the school and you'll be the reason we were able to do it. The ladies will love it," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Peter blushed. "I'll do my part," he said. "Are Lily and the others ready?"

"They should be," James said. "They told me they'd be ready as soon as we got into position."

"Alright," Peter said. "Whenever you're ready." He transformed into a rat. James watched him scurry away until he was out of sight. Then he started walking to the Great Hall and counting. By the time he got there, under his cloak, he had counted to 100. Standing outside the Great Hall by the side of the door, James drew his wand.

Peter transformed back into his usual form in front of the door. "Happy Halloween, you pureblood bastards," he shouted.

" _Praemium cucurbita_ ," James whispered. The doors were closed most of the way but James could still hear the pandemonium that his spell caused. All of the pumpkins hanging from the ceiling of the Great Hall exploded violently, coating the students below in chunks. Screams and shouts echoed from the hall.

A few spells shot out of the door at Peter who started sprinting away. James counted half a dozen Death Eaters in pursuit. Less than he had hoped, but at least the others wouldn't have as much trouble dealing with them then.

James strode cautiously into the hall, trying to avoid stepping on any of the pieces of pumpkin that covered the floor. The students were confused and frightened, talking to each other in low voices. James saw more than a few tears being wiped away surreptitiously and a few students sobbing, the stress of their captivity finally getting to them.

Dolohov was talking to a pair of Death Eaters up by the podium. James kept his distance from them. His father had told him about Antonin Dolohov and what the man was capable of. He wasn't someone that James was capable of winning a fight against.

Luckily for James the door to the antechamber was ajar. There was only one Death Eater by it. James got within a few feet of him and muttered, " _Confundo._ " The guard shuddered for a moment and then walked away. James imagined that he looked thoroughly confused under his mask.

James slipped into the antechamber noiselessly. Dolohov hadn't bothered putting many guards on the teachers. They didn't have their wands and none of them were in any condition to be using brute force against the Death Eaters.

McGonagall looked like she was the best off out of all the teachers. James wasn't surprised. Even disarmed, McGonagall had a presence about her, as if she were just daring you to misbehave. The Marauders had been subjected to that many times and James was glad that the Death Eaters got a chance to experience it too. Much more deserving targets, he thought.

"Professor," he whispered. At first he was afraid he had been too quiet and she hadn't heard him, but McGonagall inclined her head once, slightly.

"If I free you and give you my wand will you be able to take out the Death Eaters?" Another nod.

" _Diffindo_ ," James thought. The ropes holding McGonagall's hands together split and fell onto the ground. James placed his wand carefully into her hands and then backed off into the corner of the room.

He didn't have to wait long to see what she would do. Tapestries hanging on the walls came alive and launched themselves at the Death Eaters, wrapping around their heads and arms. The thick pine table in the middle of the room started bucking wildly and charged one of the Death Eaters, knocking him to the ground.

All of the sounds were muffled, like they were coming from across a great distance. James supposed that was to keep anyone from outside the room from hearing what was going on.

Rising stiffly to her feet, McGonagall launched bindings from James' wand that covered another Death Eater from head to toe, like a mummy. The last Death Eater was slowly crumpling from asphyxiation while three tapestries slowly choked the life out of him. McGonagall stunned him and de-animated the tapestries and the table.

Only a few seconds had passed but the three Death Eaters were lying unconscious on the ground. With a flick of her wand, McGonagall freed the other teachers.

"Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Potter. For once, you were quite timely." She handed him his wand.

"No worries, professor," James said. "What now?"

"You've done your part Mr. Potter," McGonagall said. "We'll take it from here. We were taken by surprise before. They will not have the same advantage this time." She picked up a wand from one of the fallen Death Eaters. Flitwick and Whitefield, the DADA teacher, took the other two wands.

"I can help," James said.

"No need," Flitwick said. "Just try to gather whatever students there are not in the Great Hall. You have an uncanny knack for finding and avoiding people." Flitwick winked at James.

"Alright," James said.

"Shall we, Minerva?" Flitwick had a faux-polite smile on his face. James wasn't sure whether or not it was because it was because of his goblin heritage, but it was a frighteningly predatory smile.

"After you, Filius."

They were a mismatched pair walking out of the antechamber, Whitefield stalking grimly behind, but they quickly showed their worth. Flitwick unleashed a barrage of brightly colored spells, too fast and too numerous for James to identify. The Death Eaters barely had any time to react before four of them had fallen.

McGonagall had coalesced the remains of the pumpkin on the ground into a pair of giants that were smashing through the Death Eater's ranks and suits of armor joined the battle shortly after that. Whitefield honed in on Dolohov immediately and the two began a pitched battle at the rear of the hall. The other teachers used the confusion to get wands from other students and fallen Death Eaters and join the pitched battle.

James streaked toward the doors, cloak flapping, trying to avoid students who had taken cover on the ground and Death Eaters trying to stay out of the way of the enraged Hogwarts professors. James was springing up the stairs when he saw that the Death Eaters had been broken. A pair of them was fleeing from the Great Hall and if the cheers in the hall were anything to go by, the rest weren't far behind.

Pulling the map out of his pocket, James checked where Lily and Peter were. His heart stopped. Next to Lily's name were six names he didn't recognize. The six Death Eaters that had chased Peter. James scanned the surrounding area for Peter's name but couldn't find it. A righteous fury started building up in his chest.

James knew rationally that he should wait for the Hogwarts professors before fighting the Death Eaters, outnumbered as he was, but he wasn't willing to risk letting Lily get hurt. He sprinted down the hallways, his chest burning from the lack of oxygen. He rounded the last corner with his wand raised.

" _Concussus_ ," James shouted. A gray ball arrowed from his wand into the midst of the Death Eaters and exploded, the concussive force knocking them onto the ground and against the walls. Lily was knocked back too, but she had the good sense to stay on the ground. James followed up his first spell with a volley of battle spells. Green bone breakers, yellow cleaving curses, silver piercing spells flashed through the air like fireworks, some finding their marks and others being dodged or deflected away.

James knew right away that he was outmatched. Two of the Death Eaters stayed down after the initial barrage but the others quickly assumed defensive stances and started pushing James back.

Two of the Death Eaters would block any spells that James sent at the group while the other two launched increasingly dangerous spells at him. James only lasted a minute before a spiraling black spell that he didn't recognize got past him and sliced open his ribcage.

His wand fell to the floor and one of the Death Eaters sauntered over to James. "Not bad," the man said, his voice distorted. "But you never really had a chance."

James laughed. "I never had a chance? You bastards have no idea how buggered you are. You've already lost. Hogwarts is ours. You're never getting out of here."

The Death Eater chuckled softly. "Defiant. You should learn when to stop talking. _Crucio_."

It was pain like nothing James had ever felt before, as if every part of his body was being exposed to its own personalized brand of torture. His mind couldn't make sense of the pain. It only lasted for a few seconds but James was left dry heaving on the ground, blood dripping freely from his wound. He shivered uncontrollably.

He was barely aware of the Death Eaters moving away, bringing one of their fallen comrades with them and leaving the other on the ground. Lily's screams as they dragged her with them didn't register in his ears. It was another minute before James' sense returned to him.

He fumbled along the ground for a second, his hand grasping his wand weakly, before he was able to push himself to his feet. Another wave of nausea almost put him on the ground again. James laid a hand on the wall to steady himself.

He let out another moan from the pain in his ribs. Then he started stumbling down the hallway, picking up speed as he recovered from the aftereffects of the Cruciatus. "Lily," he mumbled.

After what felt like an eternity to him James was walking down the staircase in the entrance hall. Sounds of combat floated from out of the Great Hall. James chanced only a swift glance into the room as he moved past it. He caught a glimpse of Whitefield battling a tall, grotesque figure with red, pupil less eyes. An uncontrollable shudder wracked James' body and he hurried past.

Once on the grounds he could see a trio of Death Eaters dragging Lily in between them. A handful of other students were being levitated behind them. James recognized them all as muggleborn students. They were too far away so James broke into a run, cursing and gasping for breath, each step jostling his wound which continued to bleed freely. James felt light-headed.

One of the Death Eaters turned when he heard James coming, just in time to get a blasting curse in the face. There was a small explosion and the Death Eater was smashed against a tree where he dropped to the ground, unmoving. The other two Death Eaters dropped Lily to the ground and raised their wands at James.

The Death Eater on the left chuckled. It was the same one from before. "Never learned when to quit, huh kid?"

James just continued casting. A volley of cutting and blasting curses raced toward the pair of Death Eaters but they were able to block the spells without much difficulty. It was getting harder for James to focus on casting the spells and it was showing. He was slowing down.

The Death Eaters started pressing James back. He went on the defensive, blocking an entrails-expelling curse and a radiant blue spear of energy James didn't recognize. It was only a few seconds later that a purple lance of fire got past James and slashed him across the chest. He screamed and fell to the ground, his wand rolling away into the grass.

James could vaguely hear Lily screaming his name. His heartbeat sounded especially loud. He raised himself to his knees, ignoring the screaming pain everywhere in his body.

"Fuck you," he said. The Death Eaters both laughed at that.

"You're not bad. A Pureblood too. More's the pity."

James looked over at Lily. She was watching him with a fearful expression. "Hey, Lily, when I get out of this will you go to Hogsmeade with me?"

He was pleased to get a laugh out of her. "James Potter, if we survive this I'll marry you."

"I'll hold you to that," he said, smiling.

"Shut up," the quieter Death Eater said. He sent a pain hex Lily's way. She winced but didn't give them the satisfaction of hearing her shout.

James looked past the two Death Eaters and widened his eyes dramatically.

"Nobody's falling for that, kid," one of the Death Eaters said.

"I'm afraid Mr. Potter is quite serious," Dumbledore said.

The Death Eaters both whirled around but Dumbledore had been moving before he started talking. A golden lasso silently whirled from his wand and wrapped around the two Death Eaters, drawing them together with a crunch.

Looking at Albus Dumbledore, James was afraid. This wasn't the benevolent Headmaster of Hogwarts. This was the man that stormed Nuremgard with only a handful of allies, broke the spine of the most powerful wizarding army in centuries and then defeated Gellert Grindelwald in single combat, locking him away in his own prison.

Dumbledore's blue eyes were steely, his deceptively frail body held erect and his hands sturdily holding his wand.

"You've performed admirably, Mr. Potter _. Rest now_." The words rushed through James' mind like a command, shutting him down. He stayed awake just long enough to see Dumbledore free Lily and the other muggleborn students and start striding up to the castle. Lily rushed over to James and his eyes closed.

* * *

The blinding white of the hospital wing greeted James when he awoke. He groaned and looked around. Usually the majority of the twenty beds were unoccupied but every single one was in use now and there were spare cots all over the place. James could see Madame Gilchester bustling around the room taking care of the patients with a few of the older students assisting her.

"How're you feeling, Prongs?" Sirius was studying him, the usual mirth gone from his face. Remus was sitting next to him.

James ran his hands along his body and tried not to wince at the pain in his chest. "Good as new. How long have I been here?"

"Overnight," Remus said. "Madame Gilchester said that you were torn to shreds when you came in. You lost a lot of blood. She wasn't sure whether or not you would pull through. Lily was in here for a long time too. She told us what happened."

"Where is she?"

"She went to go help with the younger students," Remus said.

"Which Moony was supposed to do too," Sirius said, some of his old attitude returning. "He got into quite the shouting match with McGonagall about it but he got her to back down. First time I've ever seen Moony yell at someone and the first time I've ever seen McGonagall back down to a student. I think it's already being added to _Hogwarts: A History_." Sirius laughed and Remus smacked the back of his head.

"Well, if you're feeling alright I should go help the younger students. You'll have to give us the full story later," Remus said.

James nodded and Remus left. "Where's Peter?" James asked Sirius.

Sirius' expression darkened. "I haven't seen him since yesterday. Lily told me that he screwed them. He was supposed to help them fight off the Death Eaters but the little coward ran away. That's why Lily got captured. She held the Death Eaters off just long enough for the younger kids to get away."

"I thought that something like that must've happened," James said.

"You don't seem that angry," Sirius said.

"I think that I just expected too much of Peter. He's not brave and he's not as talented as us. I should've expected that he would get scared and run off. I should've planned for that."

"Maybe. But friends should be willing to do anything for each other. Peter clearly wasn't."

"It doesn't matter right now. I'm getting out of here," James said. He grabbed his wand off of the bedside stand and gingerly got out of bed, trying not to exacerbate his injuries.

James stood up, feeling a bit foolish in just a hospital wing gown. Sirius snickered at him.

"Oh, shut up."

Looking around to make sure that Madame Gilchester was occupied James made his way out of the room.

"Looks like a lot of people got hurt. Did anyone… lose anyone?" James asked.

Sirius sighed. "Yeah, we did. Sarah Sydney, Henry Smalling, and a couple of younger muggleborn students that we didn't know. Professor Whitefield didn't make it either. The Death Eaters were trying to get any muggleborns they could at the end and Whitefield got taken down by You-Know-Who."

"You mean Voldemort?" James asked.

Sirius winced.

"Come on, Sirius. We can't be afraid of even his name," James said. "He's a terrorist, not a god."

"I don't know. You weren't in the same room as him. He's not human. You can just feel it. He's too strong. And he's dark. He distorts everything just by being in the same room. Fires doesn't feel as warm, light dims and you feel like you'll never be happy again. It's like being around a dementor." Sirius shivered. "I've never been so terrified in my life. If Dumbledore hadn't shown up I don't know what would've happened. I don't think the teachers could've beaten him. I'm not sure anyone can beat him."

James digested the information thoughtfully. The pair walked in silence for a minute.

"I think Dumbledore wants to see you, mate. He came over while you were still asleep. Said his password was chocolate frogs," Sirius said.

"Alright," James said, as they reached an intersection. As Sirius turned to go James laid a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Sirius gave a blindingly fake smile. "Course I'm alright."

"Ok," James said. "If you want to, you know, talk about anything, I'm here for you."

"Nothing to talk about, Prongs, but thanks." Sirius walked away hands in his pockets, whistling a jaunty tune. James turned and walked to the Headmaster's Office.

"Chocolate frogs," he said when he got to the gargoyle outside of the Headmaster's Office. Wondering what Dumbledore wanted to talk to him about James ascended the staircase and raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Come in," Dumbledore said, right before James' hand made contact with the door.

James walked into the office. Little had changed in the room since his last visit with the rest of the marauders.

"Ah, James, it's been a while. Please, have a seat." Dumbledore gestured to a particularly plush chair in front of his desk. "Lemon drop?"

"Thank you, sir," James said, taking the proffered candy and popping it into his mouth.

"I wanted to thank you, James," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort's attack took us all by surprise. I never suspected Professor Sinkgraff of working with Voldemort and I never thought that Voldemort would attack Hogwarts of all places. Your warning allowed me to arrive before our losses became truly tragic."

"Why Hogwarts, sir?" James asked.

"He's sending the wizarding world a message. Hogwarts is the oldest and most securely warded place in wizarding Britain. Voldemort is telling the world that if the students here aren't safe, then nobody is safe." Dumbledore sounded grim.

"That makes sense, I guess," James said. "But won't attacking students unite a lot of people against Voldemort?"

"You would think so, but I'm afraid the type of person who would support Voldemort won't be concerned that he's attacking muggleborn students. In fact, this attack will likely have earned Voldemort much more support than anything else he could have done. He's shown himself to be resourceful and powerful, two things that the more traditional families in Britain respect highly," Dumbledore said.

"So what's being done to stop him?" James asked.

Dumbledore looked pleased at his question. "The ministry is being rather recalcitrant in this matter, afraid to escalate the conflict any further."

James snorted. "Voldemort just attacked a school full of children. It doesn't escalate much farther than that."

"I, and a few others, are of that opinion as well, James. That's why we started an organization not subject to ministry oversight to pool our resources and fight against Voldemort. We call ourselves The Order of the Phoenix. And we'd like you to join when you graduate Hogwarts, if you're willing."

"Yes," James said without hesitation.

"Wonderful," Dumbledore said, smiling. He looked much more like the man James was accustomed to than the dangerous wizard he had seen the day before.

"Did you offer to let anyone else join?" James asked.

"Can you think of anyone else that might be interested?" Dumbledore asked, eyes twinkling.

"I couldn't have done what I did without Lily Evans' help," James said quickly.

"Then by all means, ask Miss Evans. Now, not to shoo you out, but I have a meeting with the school board in a few minutes. They're understandably upset and I'd hate to be late.

"I'll see myself out," James said.

"Oh, and by the way," Dumbledore said, as James was pulling open the door to his office. "I believe that Miss Evans is taking a break out by the Black Lake right now. If you hurry, you might be able to catch her by herself." Dumbledore winked at him.

James blushed and thanked the headmaster, hurrying out to the Black Lake. He didn't run into anyone else on the grounds as he made his way to the lake. Hogwarts was quiet, a sense of mourning having fallen over the school. Never in living memory had the school been attacked and students killed. It was a stark reminder of mortality.

Lily was dipping her feet in the Blake Lake when James approached. James shuddered at how cold her feet would have to be.

"It's a little cold to be going for a swim," James said, walking up and sitting next to her, their hips touching. He was pleasantly surprised when she didn't move away.

"I needed to get out of the castle and the water looked so peaceful," she said by way of explanation.

"Makes sense," James said. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, looking out over the lake. It was evening and the sun was setting, its reflection in the lake looking like a thousand beams of fire.

"You almost died, you know, when you came down to stop the Death Eaters from taking me away," Lily said. She wasn't looking at him and she tried to say it conversationally, but James could tell she was upset. "Madame Gilchester said that a few minutes more and you would have lost too much blood."

"Well here's how I figured it," James said. "If I beat them and rescued you, you'd be so amazed and grateful that you'd have to go out on a date with me. And if I lost, I'd never ask you on a date again and you'd be grateful for that. So either way, you'd have won."

Lily laughed. "That's a strange way of looking at things. How do you think it worked out for you?"

"I would've said badly, since I didn't rescue you and I didn't kick the bucket, but you did tell me that if I made it out of there alive you would marry me. And that's a bit more than I expected going in. So I'll count it as a win," James said, smiling.

"I did promise that, didn't I?" Lily asked rhetorically.

"Yup, and I'm going to hold you to it," James said. He stood up and pulled Lily to her feet. "Now I'm going to kidnap you and we're going to elope on some tropical island far away from here and have loads of kids and live happily ever after."

"Oh really," Lily said, smiling. "And what are we going to tell our parents when we run away and have all of these children?"

"I imagine we'll send them a postcard or two."

"That works. They don't need much more than that."

"Exactly!"

"Or maybe, and this is just an idea, we could start small," Lily said.

"And what does starting small entail?" James asked.

Lily laced her hands behind James' neck and pulled him in for a soft kiss. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Lily pulled away.

"I imagined that that we would go on a date and maybe, if you're a gentlemen, kiss a few times."

"Not necessarily in that order," James said, pulling her in for another kiss.

James ended the kiss after a minute regretfully. "I had a meeting with Dumbledore before I came down here," he said.

"Did he give you pointers?" Lily asked.

"What? No! I don't need pointers on asking a girl out from Dumbledore. Or anyone for that matter."

"Well, you have had more practice at it than anyone else I know."

"My point exactly," James said.

"Well, what did you and Dumbledore talk about?"

James sat down again by the lake and pulled Lily down with him. She sat next to him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Dumbledore told me about an organization, The Order of the Phoenix, that he and a few others founded to fight against Voldemort. He said that the ministry is being reactive and unhelpful."

"A vigilante group?" Lily asked.

"It sounds that way," James said.

"And he asked you to join?"

"He did. And I said yes. I also asked him if you could join. You were incredible against those Death Eaters. You know more spells than anyone else I know and you can easily hold your own. I think you'd be a great help."

"I got captured, James. Remember that?"

"That wasn't your fault and we both know it. Peter should've stayed to help you."

"I don't think that I'm cut out for something like that. Dueling those Death Eaters was terrifying. It's violent and people died. I don't think I could kill anyone. You killed people, James." Lily drew her knees up to her face.

"I know I did," James said softly. "Just promise me you'll think about it."

"Ok." Lily leaned over and gave him a sad kiss on the cheek.

"I never had you pegged as the affectionate type, Evans," James said.

"I never had you pegged as the heroic type, Potter. I guess we're both just full of surprises."

The sun continued to set and Lily Evans and James Potter sat by the Black Lake together and pondered the future.

 **AN: This is a one-shot I cooked up based on the idea that if Second War ended at Hogwarts, it would be fittingly symmetrical for the First War to start at Hogwarts. We don't know much about the First War so I felt free to fill in the blanks. If I messed up anything factually take it to be artistic license. Please leave a review if you liked the story or if you have any criticism. Thoughtful criticism is always helpful!**


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